Shocked Photog Blasts Hachette, Says Company ‘Threatened Me’

Michael Yon, the photographer who alleged his photo of an American soldier was used on the cover of the U.S. debut issue of Hachette’s Shock without his permission, says the company has threatened him in writing with a defamation suit.

Once I began trying to clear my name, several bloggers wrote about it and published contact information to the publisher, who began getting a flood of complaints. That’s when the publisher turned around and threatened me, in writing, with a defamation lawsuit. That’s no misprint: they took my property, used it a vulgar way, further dishonored our military and our country by timing their inaugural launch to Memorial Day weekend, and then, when some patriotic bloggers dared to call them to complain about it, they threatened me.

As FishbowlNY previously reported, Yon says he is filing suit against HFM, Polaris Images, and anyone else who profits from the unauthorized distribution.” Yon’s lawyer, John D. Mason, is contacting Shock‘s distributors to alert them of the alleged infringement.

“We tried to negotiate a settlement,” Yon writes, “but I insist that taking the magazines off the shelves has to be part of any agreement. They have refused.”